Der Alltag - The Everyday Life

Routines...

Now that we are truly fully settled in, our routines are set but never mundane. After lunch on Fridays, we walk around the corner to the San Remo Eis Cafe. The menu has over a hundred kinds of ice cream concoctions to try.

This is just the menu for the ice creams. There is another menu if you actually want food.

The boys always get two Kugeln (scoops) in a Waffel (cone) and then eat it with a spoon!

Every week Russell and I try something new. We have never ordered anything twice, even so we will never be able to try the whole menu before we return to the States. We are waiting for visitors to come (hint hint) so we can try the party sundae. I think it would take about 6 people to eat the whole thing (it includes fruit, sauces, nuts, and  about 20 scoops of various ice creams).

This week, our selection was a Mango Becher. It had Mango, Vanilla and Raspberry ice cream, mango chunks and slices, whipped cream and mango sauce.

Still discovering new things...

Last weekend the boys went to a birthday party in a nearby town. It took us about 20 minutes to bike there. Russell mentioned that he overheard someone mention a huge grocery store was out there. On Saturday, the weather was relatively warm and dry, so we biked over to see what the store had to offer.

The store is called Marktkauf. Imagine a Wal-mart (but not dirty or unorganized and with a staff that is pleasant) mixed with a Home Depot, and you get the idea.

One thing that has been nearly impossible to find here is liquid Vanilla. Here is a bottle with 30 Milliliters of Vanilla for 2.29 Euros. Look at your pinky, that is how big the bottle is. I decided I am going to try my hand at making some myself.

Our older son really wanted us to buy these hotdogs.  This is the only way I have seen Hot Dogs sold over here - bun included. He left disappointed since I didn't indulge him. Don't feel too bad for him - he ended up with plenty of treats.

The boys have been seeing commercials for mini winis (pronounced meenie weenies) since September, but we have never seen them in the grocery stores we usually visit. Well, guess what we found at the enormous market?

After biking to the store and back, we had lunch and then it was time for the boys to take care of their cleaning responsibilities. Each Saturday, one cleans the bathrooms and the other cleans the living room thoroughly. This is not something they are paid to do - it is part of their responsibilities. The grown ups took this opportunity to go for a walk to get some quiet time. 

We decided to take a walk around the Schloss (castle) that is down the street from our apartment. On the way there I noticed this painted electrical box. We commonly see these normally unattractive boxes decorated with charming pictures.

We walked along a path that follows the moat encircling most of the Schloss. The weather is certainly warming up, but is still cold enough that the ducks can still walk on ice in the moat. 

As we walked around the Schloss, we noticed the first flowers peeking out. 

As we made our way around to the front of the Schloss, we noticed a group of people gathered and chanting. As we walked closer we could make out their signs. They were protesting ACTA - it is the anti-counterfiting treaty sponsored by the U.S. 

Taking Care of Business

We don't want our boys to be too far behind when they return to their lives in Norfolk. We have extra homework to make sure they stay up to snuff in regards to reading and writing in English. We are also trying to make sure they don't get too far behind in their scout troops. We have been fairly diligent in fulfilling requirements. Today our youngest fulfilled a Bear requirement making oatmeal cookies.  I must say, the provided recipe is a little dull, so we took a little artistic license.

If you feel like trying them out, this is how I, I mean my son, made them. He really did, I only back seat baked.

Ingredients

3/4 cup shortening *   **see notes below

2 table spoons butter (softened)

1 cup brown sugar *

1/2 cup granulated sugar *

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla - or one packet vanilla sugar if you are in Deutschland

1/2 cup cocoa powder - or more if you like it more chocolatey

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups old fashioned oatmeal

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda - or half a packet of Backpulver 

Directions - preheat the oven to 375 F
1. Combine the shortening, butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, water and salt. Mix these until they look fluffy and the color lightens.
2. Add cocoa powder and mix well.
3. Mix in baking soda, flour and oatmeal. I find it is easier to do this with a spoon.
4. Use a table spoon to drop the cookies onto a prepared cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

*Please note that I am using European sugar and vegetable shortening which are a little different than what you get in the States. You may have to play around with adding a little more sugar and shortening to get the cookie consistency you love.

** I let my son pick between using shortening and butter. He chose shortening while I would normally have used butter. If you want to use butter, you can substitute the same amount of butter for the shortening.

If you are feeling adventurous, add a dash of cayenne or cinnamon or both!

Enjoy!

This blog entry is already pretty long, so I will wait till next week to write about the promised visit to the Münster Picasso Museum we made on Sunday.

Bis nächste Woche!

Karnival - Weiberfastnacht, Rosenmontag and the Beginning of Lent

Karnival

So, lets start by saying, these German's really know how to party. Lent started yesterday, but the preparations really started a few weeks ago, and by preparations, I mean partying.

In the states, the only thing we have that compares is Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Of course there are smaller celebrations in other coastal towns such as Galveston, but the main event is always in the Big Easy.

In Germany, the celebrations began weeks ago. The smaller towns have their parades earlier than the main cities. That means if you know the right people, you can go see a parade every weekend (we don't know the right people, so we didn't).

Weiberfastnacht

Last Thursday was the official beginning of the celebrations. The Thursday before Rosenmontag is known as Weiberfastnacht. The boys both had parties at school. Most importantly, this day is a day for women. In many German cities, the women literally take over the city. At 11:11, women "storm" city hall and kick out the mayor for the rest of the day. In the work place, women walk around cutting off the ties of the men, leaving little silk stumps. The men do, however, get a little kiss for consolation. And if a man is wearing lace up shoes? The scissors get a little more work - snip, snip! The work day often ends at 11:11 (A.M.) and that evening turns into a fun Girl's Night Out (if you know the right people). Münster's celebration is pretty tame, but other cities, such as Cologne and Düsseldorf.

Rosenmontag

Monday, Rosenmontag, is when everyone else joins in on the fun. There is an enormous parade of about 100 wagons, called a "Zug" (the same word used for train). The festivities began at 11:11, and the parade itself stared at 12:12.  The parade snakes its way through town very slowly. We met the family of one of our younger son's to watch the parade at their favorite corner. We later learned that the parade takes about an hour to arrive at this particular corner. We were there a bit early, keeping in line with U.S. reasoning of get there before the good spots are taken. 

Well, these Germans have a better sense of timing than that. We were there at 11:45 with the idea that half an hour would be enough time to get a good spot. But when we arrived the streets were almost empty! Well, we certainly had our pick of places.

This gave us plenty of time to people watch. Unlike a parade in the U.S., the spectators are expected to dress in costume - everyone (we felt a little weird without costumes). It is even different than New Orleans, where the costumes are normally Mardi Gras themed. Here is a taste of the costumes we saw.

The girl is an angel and the boy is a mat of grass - swamp thing perhaps?

I love the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle on a bike. 

Dressing as a woman is very a very common costume. Most men end up pretty ugly, but this one was great. Such attention to detail! Notice the leg warmer topped with a ribbon!

The crowds built pretty quickly. Since the parade started at midday, most people brought snacks (except us, of course). They also brought something to drink. EVERYONE had something to drink, young and old alike. Thank goodness they also brought food.

Buzz Lightyear has a buzz!

Sexy costumes are popular too! Besides these construction girls, we saw a ton of "police women".    Side note - the temperature was only a little above freezing.

By 1:15, the crowds at our corner had gathered in earnest. The people were getting anxious for the show to begin.

And then we saw the floats. As the first one passed by, our friend said, "That is the first one, there are over one hundred".  Did I mention how slow they were moving?

Even though this is a family event, most of the floats were party oriented and not what an American would consider suitable for children.

Besides candy and pre-popped popcorn, plenty of other things were tossed. We happened to catch 4 pairs of sunglasses, two hats, two lanyards, and several bracelets. We saw, but did not get: a wurst (fresh off the grill), fresh and plastic flowers (roses, of course), pillow cases, or dried fruit.

Many of the "kid" floats were still a little freaky looking.

This float might have been representing the bakers of the city. Every few minutes steam would pour out of the ovens.

There were several floats having to do with clocks and clock towers. Between the floats was this crowd of alarm clocks.

After two and a half hours, we finally saw the last float - #110. We said Tschuss (bye) to our friends and made our way home with several pounds of candy.

But...

getting home was easier said than done. We biked home along the Promenade (a pedestrian and bike path that rings the old part of the city), but as I said earlier, the parade snaked through the city. We biked along to a cross street where we found ourselves at parade float #96. There was nothing to be done, so we hopped off our bikes, pulled out the candy bags and yelled "Helau", because that is what you do.

About an hour later and one more parade pause (this time we just pushed our way across) we made it home to look through our candy haul.

Above is gives you an idea of the types of candy we brought home. Most were gummi types of candy.

I thought these "Gummi candy from around the world" were interesting. Notice the "Sitting Bear" and "Kung Fu Bear".

Waffels were another interesting catch.

Brought to you by the same company that brings you those delicious gummi bears - Gummi A@# with ears.

So, now the celebrations and partying are at an end, and for many the real part of the holiday begins. Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and many people were spotted with ashes. Both of the schools our children go to had a service where children could receive ashes if they wished.

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Winter is Definitely Still Here!

So far, we have enjoyed a relatively mild winter. It hovered near freezing since November, that is until about two weeks ago.

At the very end of January, right when we thought we might be lucky enough to have the bitter cold bypass Münster, the cold hit us like a brick.

We have been riding our bikes to school, the gym, the office, and the grocery store with temperatures around 6 degrees Fahrenheit (-15 Celsius). Apparently, this is the normal temperature for winter.

The lovely lake we ran around during the Autumn froze hard enough that people dusted off their ice skates, sleds and other toys and hit the ice.

The day we went to play on the ice, it was frozen to about 10 inches thick. Here is a picture that shows a deep crack in the ice to give you an idea of how thick it is.

We don't have any ice skates, so we had to settle with just walking around on the ice and people watching. It was just as well because there was plenty to look at.

The lake is pretty long and somewhat narrow. We started out just walking across the narrow expanse first. After adjusting scarves and coats, of course. It was so cold.

As we walked along we kept seeing interesting bubbles in the ice. Maybe this is trite for a lot of you, but I grew up in Houston where it is not uncommon to not really even need a coat or jacket for going to your Christmas or New Year parties

I told Pr that I thought the bubbles in the picture below looked like an old fashioned tug boat. He did not agree and let me know in a way that reminded me again that he is becoming a teenager.

I could only think of the Charlie Brown Christmas Movie when I saw the figure eight.

We saw several people on bikes.

Without a sled, I suppose pushing your baby in the stroller while ice skating is the next best thing.

This is one of the two pedal cars we saw on the ice. You can just see the person sitting inside while another person is catching a ride on the back.

Eisrettungsstation means Ice Rescue Station. We didn't see any broken ice, but there were several stories in the news about people or animals falling through when the freezing weather first hit. People had been on the lake for about two weeks, but the locals warned us not to go out "until the fire department says that they can't guarantee anyone's safety." Then it is okay.

Some enterprising people set up a Bratwurst and Glüwein booth just outside a restaurant and business was hopping! 

Pa was thrilled to be able to jump on the ice.

While we were walking we kept hearing this spooky sound that reminded me of sounds you would hear in an aquarium. I assume it was the sound of ice as it shifted and people walked on it. We enjoyed our little frozen lake outing, but I will be so happy when warmer weather arrives. I think the next week is supposed to be around freezing again. That is practically balmy compared to the last few weeks.

Dancing! Music! Carnival is Coming!

D.A.N.C.E.


I cannot remember the last time my husband and I went out for a night of dancing, so you can imagine our delight when we saw a flyer hanging up in the stairwell going up to the apartment. It said that the International Office at the University of Münster was hosting a Samba party with live Brazilian Music.

Both of my children are still hanging onto their coughs, which has really interfered with my sleep, so I felt a little like a zombie and I just wasn't sure I was up for a night of dancing. My man seemed to be looking forward to it, so I roused myself and put on a sweater, then another sweater and then my coat (the temperature has been below freezing for the last week or so). This particular university office is only a few minutes away by bike, so shortly after the little boys were in bed we were locking up our bikes in front of "Die Brücke" (The Bridge).

The poster says "Internationales Brückefest", Featuring live Brazilian Music, Latvian Folk Dancers, Samba show, and International music by DJ Dr. Samba

We even got hand stamps!

There were a few groups of dancers that came out to give demonstrations of traditional dancing. This group is from Latvia. The flash was not cooperating at that moment, but their clothes were dark, embroidered skirts (ankle length) for the women and slacks for the men, and white, long-sleeved  shirts. The women also had a long French Braid with ribbons. The boys wore dark vests. The dances and costumes were very conservative.

And Then...

The Brazilian girls came out!

The two dance groups made a very interesting contrast. The Brazilian's first set of dances was an example of Brazilian Hip Hop.  The costumes were rather skimpy compared to the Latvian group, and the dances were much more "physically expressive".

Next...

It was time for live music and dancing for the masses!

The band featured a singer that also played the drums and a guy that ran the keyboards and accompaniment. We had so much fun dancing the night away. We heard many songs that were familiar and some we had never heard before. One interesting moment was hearing the Macarena, Brazilian style.

But Wait, the Brazilian Girls were not finished yet!

The brazilian dancers had one more treat for us. Just in case some of you are unaware, the time of Carmival is nearly upon us, and we were treated to an extended demonstration of a Carnival dance. I can't show you what they look like from behind, but to give you a hint of what it looked like, one of the audience members very enthusiastically pointed out that "Sie braucht ein Waffeshein für das." (She needs a gun permit for that.) So much for Germans being nonplussed by nudity.

After this little show, the DJ cranked it up again. My feet got super sore after all the dancing on the tile floor, so we had to leave at about midnight (my boots are made for walkin', not dancin').

Birthdays and Breakfasts!

Birthdays are so much fun...

The last couple of weeks have been a bit tiring. It seems like my kids have had colds or viruses for three weeks running. One or the other of them has woken up in the night coughing almost every night. 

None the less, this week we celebrated my sweet boy's birthday. One big cultural difference here is about birthdays. In the U.S. your birthday is your special day where everyone treats you special. They give you presents, they bring you a birthday cake, and they pay for your dinner. Here they still bring you presents, but you are responsible for having a party. You invite the people, you bring the cake, bring everyone to your house to celebrate with a party that you have prepared. If you go out to dinner on your birthday, you pay. For example, we (all four of us) were invited to an amusement park way back in September to celebrate the birthday of the department chair. We didn't have to pay for a thing, including lunch!

When someone has a birthday there is usually a small celebration at their workplace. I made a cake and icing was put in a cleaned out jam jar for easier transportation. I put the un-iced cake on my (only) cake platter and then wrapped cellophane around the whole things. It has a huge hit and there was none left for Russell to bring home. We had a activity packed weekend, so I think I ended up making 3 cakes - all of them chocolate!

German cakes are not nearly as moist as a cake from the U.S. It was a fun novelty. Russell overheard one person mention how moist the cake was. A person next to him said, "You mean undercooked?". Of course that person went back for seconds of the "undercooked" cake!

The next day we wanted to have a celebration at home, so I made another cake. Actually, I doubled the recipe because I needed a third cake for the next day.

Remember when I mentioned I only had one cake plate? Yeah, well Russell left it at school to be cleaned in their dishwasher. I like to think I am adept at improvising, so I put this otherwise unused tort pan to good use. This is definitely not my prettiest cake, but by this time I was pretty tired.

Below is a picture of us, pre-candle-blowing-out. Can you tell which boy was having a turn on the virus roller coaster?

Our Friday was especially busy - we went to two separate parties. The first party was a get together during the afternoon with the families of our older son's schoolmates (this party NEEDED an apple pie). The class parents decided to have a class party after the Christmas holidays to avoid the chaos of one more holiday party.

The next party was that evening. One of the other families we have befriended is moving a few blocks away to a bigger place. It doesn't take much to get the people around here motivated for a party. Chocolate cake and left over apple pie rounded out the party nicely, I think. 

Luckily, our youngest was recovered enough by Saturday to attend the birthday party of a classmate. All of the children and the parents of the Birthday Boy met at the bus stop near the elementary school. From there the group went to a bakery called Cibaria. This is what he brought home - 5 hours later!

Just in case you can't tell, he made two airplanes, a shark, a regular brotchen and a loaf. I will have to remember that chocolate chips make great windows.

Speaking of baking things, we had some friends over the next morning for a Traditional American Breakfast.

Breakfast, American Style
One couple we have come to know pretty well has invited us to various things, so we decided to return the favor. They were excited to hear how an American breakfast differs from those in Germany. Breakfast here is pretty different than in the U.S. At a traditional German breakfast table you would find bread (generally rolls), sliced meat, cheese, and jam. There may be fruit and granola-style cereal, or a boiled egg (only on Sunday). The meal is almost more of a morning snack, or even what we might consider a light lunch.

But, what should I make as examples of American breakfast? What normally comes to mind is pancakes, waffles, or bacon and eggs - but those seemed a little ordinary (German Pfannkuchen and Waffeln are really good, and Spiegelei is pretty common) I finally settled on biscuits and gravy as a nice southern recipe, and eggs Benedict because I figured it was something they hadn't seen before (yes, this is a bit much for one breakfast, but I just served a half portion of each). I had to use a new biscuit recipe because I did not plan as well as I should have and didn't have enough butter. I used a this recipe - they turned out beautifully I think.

I finally was able to use my biscuit cutters!

A few people have been asking, so here is the recipe
J.P's Big Daddy Biscuits

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
3. Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead 15 to 20 times. Pat or roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a large cutter or juice glass dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet.
4. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges begin to brown.

J.P.'s Big Daddy Biscuits

The Hollandaise sauce is ready, gravy is almost ready and water is ready for egg poaching.

Of course this is not something you would eat regularly in the states, but for the occasional treat, this is great.

The wife of the couple brought me a little gift - dark chocolate with cashews. She told me these are just for me. However, I may share with Russell. After all, he did just have a birthday!